


Minecraft: A Novelization *PLEASE COMMENT*

by VectorV



Series: Minecraft Series [1]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 19:15:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29140641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VectorV/pseuds/VectorV
Summary: *PLEASE COMMENT* Simply added some lore to Minecraft and built a story out of it. *PLEASE COMMENT* Will release over six days. *PLEASE COMMENT*Technically a novelette but whatever. *PLEASE COMMENT*
Series: Minecraft Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2138718
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1 - these players dreamed of sunlight and trees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> -in which-
> 
> Steve and Avery start from a new beginning

Steve woke up. This land was unfamiliar to him. It was a sunny morning, and he was surrounded by oak trees and a tall mountain further inland. He could hear the ocean beyond the trees. He tried to remember how he got here, or what he was doing before, but to no avail. He didn't have a single clue. However, he knew this wasn't where he was supposed to be and he got frustrated and upset, again, due to randomly being in the middle of a forest with no idea how he got there. 

He punched a tree out of annoyance, and a log popped out of the tree. It shrank down to the size where he could hold it. He picked it up and put it in his bag, remembering it was an important resource. He punched out the rest of the tree, and put the logs in his bag. The leaves began to fall from above. A sapling fell with the leaves, as well as an apple. He collected both items and put them into the bag. He punched down a couple more of the trees using the same method.

He remembered the underground was safer, and the nearby mountain seemed like a good place to start.

He walked towards the mountain and dug a hole into the dirt, where he felt more comfortable. He broke the wood blocks into planks, and then used most of them to create a crafting table after he remembered the recipe. The table was a large desk with tool racks on the side, with a 3x3 grid at the center. This grid was used to do the actual crafting. 

He carefully arranged the remaining wood in the grid to create a pickaxe, remembering more recipes. He used this to pop out the stone on the far wall the way he did with the logs before, to expand his home. Some black rocks were embedded in the stone blocks.  
He inspected them before mining them as they seemed interesting, He broke the final block which contained the black rocks, which revealed a dark area below the room.   
He recognized the rocks as coal and used them to craft torches. He was almost out of wood, but it was already nighttime, and he heard some scary sounds from outside. So he explored the cave.

He noticed a green, rotting humanoid creature stumble towards him, making creepy groans as it did. It wore clothes just like his - a cyan shirt and blue pants. It swiped at him with its hand, and its claw-like fingernails dragged down his arm. There was no obvious wound but Steve felt weaker. He took the pickaxe and stabbed the point into the creature's head. It started stumbling more when it walked. There was no wound but it flashed red. Steve attacked it with the pickaxe again, and it died, turning red and then disappearing. It left behind a single carrot, which Steve put in his bag. 

Steve noticed a light coming from the side passage in the cave. He went towards it and found a medium-sized room with two chests, and a small cage. There was an image of the monster, which Steve had identified as a zombie, spinning around in the center, as the cage itself lit on fire. The fire formed into the shape of a zombie, which then appeared into existence.

Steve attacked it several times and killed it like the previous one. He started to mine the spawner with his pickaxe, but decided not to, as the zombies seemed to be dropping useful loot, like the carrot. But he needed to stop them appearing at least temporarily.

Steve then noticed that the zombies weren't spawning out in the daylight. Maybe light killed them, or scared them off. He used three of the four torches to light up the room containing the cage. The loot from the chests was pretty mediocre, it mainly consisted of flesh that looked like it came from the zombies, and white human bones. There were cobwebs in the corners of the chests, and several piles of gray powder at the bottom. There was one item of significance however: a shiny, golden apple buried under some chunks of rotten flesh. He put the apple in his bag and kept going down the same hall, ignoring a tunnel that was branching from the dungeon for now.

An arrow struck his shoulder. Then another one, into the other shoulder. Steve reached behind him and removed both arrows, then turned around. Two animate skeletons, made of white bones like the ones in the chest stood behind him. He ducked into a smaller cavern out of the skeletons' reach and put some blocks over the entrance. There were several books in the room, on messy shelves. He took off one that said, "An Encyclopedia of Monsters". He recognized it as being in the runic alphabet - one of the scripts used for more magic-related or official texts or entries. 

He flipped to the page about skeletons, and then went back a few pages because he saw something strange. It was a mostly ripped off page about the "Ender Dragon", only containing the title ( ) and a picture. He placed the torch, to give off some light, coughing at the smoke. There was a stone sword on the ground near a shelf . He partially unblocked the entrance after picking up the sword. He attacked and killed one of the skeletons, and then the other. They both turned red and disappeared, like the zombies had. 

Then, he heard hissing behind him, and saw flashing out of the corner of his eye. He turned around and saw a green creature behind him, glowing and swelling. In that moment, he recognized it as a danger and he ran towards the main passage, which led to the far side of the mountain. He emerged into a large forest followed by the hissing creature. 

Then, the creature completely exploded, which left a crater and weakened Steve and threw him towards a nearby small lake. Steve landed in the water. He cursed and angrily stepped out of the lake, grateful the sun was rising. Another human sat beside a tree. 

She said, "Hi... who are you? No... that's not right." 

Steve said, "I'm Steve, how are you?"

The woman said, "Steve! Y-Good! I'm A.....very. Avery Smith. Yeah. That's my name. And you look all wet. I saw you coming out of that cave. There was a creeper behind you, which is what the explosion was from."

Steve said, "Hmm... Yeah. That hurt. Why are you out here?"

"The zombies were too much of a hassle so I decided to hide in the forest." Avery looked at Steve's bag and noticed the apple he took from the tree sticking out. "Eat the apple, it will make you feel better. The red one." Steve took several bites from the apple, and tossed the core into the pond. "The golden one is important. Only eat it if you're in a sticky situation."

Steve said, "Check out what I found in the cave. It seems important." Avery followed Steve into the cave, and Steve led her to the side passage, where Steve picked up the book. 

Avery said angrily, "Give me the book." 

Steve stared at her, confused.

Then Avery yelled, "GIVE ME THE BOOK!" 

Steve trembled and handed the book over. "Jayz, no need to yell!" 

Avery put it in her own bag. 

"I don't want you finding out about this. This is for your own good, and mine."

_And mine._

Steve wondered what that meant, and why she said it like that. He decided not to worry about it too much, as the book wasn't necessary for anything at this point. He instead headed with Avery back into the cave. Avery noticed part of the wall had shiny white rocks in it, and silently pointed Steve to it with her pickaxe. Steve took out his own and mined out several pieces of the material, which he recognized as iron.

"Hey... we can be friends, right?" Steve said.

Avery replied, "W- Yes! I... know I was a little rough about the book and everything, but... yes. We a- can be friends.

Steve crafted a new pickaxe for himself, noticing Avery had a pickaxe. Steve then crafted swords for himself and Avery. Using their new tools, they expanded the base, adding a furnace. Steve also crafted shears. He went out, found two sheep in the forest and sliced their fluffy wool off, bringing back six bunches, which was enough to craft two beds. One for Avery, one for Steve. 

Avery still seemed pretty suspicious but Steve decided to not make anything of it, as she seemed to be a friend otherwise. Plus, she was teaching him about the world. Avery built a staircase from the base down into the cave, so that the spawner could be used in the future to their advantage. Steve crafted a door and placed it in front, and used wood to build up proper walls to their base. Avery noticed four pigs, and killed two of them, dropping four porkchops. Avery also fenced up the other two.

Avery then led Steve out the back entrance of the cave, into the deep forest, "We..... need to find a village." She pointed at a zombie standing under a tree. "Just attack it." She attacked the zombie several times, knocking it into the daylight, where Steve noticed it burst into flames, before dying. They continued walking through the forest.

After a while, they noticed a tunnel in the side of a mountain. Avery said, "...The mineshaft! Of course! That's at least a sign of civilization." They continued walking towards it, and Steve said, "That looks pretty abandoned to me."

Avery cursed under her breath. She said, "At least we'll get some good loot from it." 

They entered the mineshaft, and Steve noticed the cobwebs in corners. "Is this normal?" He touched it and his hand got stuck. With enough force, he was able to pull it out. 

Avery said, "No, Steve. This is not normal. Why are there spiders?" 

They ventured deeper, and found more cobwebs, and a loot chest. It contained gold, and it also had a lot of junk. A notable item was a somewhat worn shiny blue pickaxe. Steve identified it as being made of diamonds. It had a much sharper blade than the iron pickaxe he'd been using. He got pricked when trying to test how sharp it was.

Avery asked, "Can I see that?" Steve gave it over, and Avery inspected it and handed it back. "It's got about 900 more uses before it breaks." 

Steve wondered what that meant until he noticed some of the fastening on the pickaxe is starting to come off. He nodded and put the pickaxe in his bag. 

They continued exploring. A giant spider dropped down in front of Steve and bit him. He began to feel weaker, like he did with the zombie, but this time it was continuous. While it was still going on, he placed some blocks to prevent the spider hitting him again, and just as Steve felt like he was about to die, it stopped, and he ate one of the four porkchops to recover while Avery attacked the spider and killed it. 

It dropped some string, which looked like it could be used as a replacement for wool from sheep. They continued deeper into the mineshaft and found an area heavily covered in webs. Several more of the spiders crawled out from it. Avery struck two of them, and Steve killed the third. They slashed the cobwebs away with their swords and got to the source of the spiders: a cage not unlike the one that Steve had noticed zombies spawn from. Steve knew exactly what to do, and placed torches around the spawner. There was another loot chest, which contained more iron, and some food. 

Avery was confused until she remembered the torches around the spawner that Steve placed. Then, Steve noticed a torn part of a book on the floor. It was in the runic alphabet. . 

It said, _"September 16"_. The date. The entry continued, 

_"This is bad. Really bad. And it's all my fault. The Ender Dragon could destroy the world at any moment. Endermen... purple... It's already wrecked the landscape. We barely managed to seal it back in the End, but it could come back at any time. And it's all my fault._

_-Alexandra Jefferson, Chief Enchanter"_


	2. Chapter 2 - they dreamed they hunted, and were hunted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> -in which-  
> Steve discovers the village

"Ugh, we've been walking through this forest forever!" Steve said, never asking why they needed to go this deep in the forest, given the village was supposed to be nearby. 

Avery said, "It's gonna take a while to get to the village!"

"Do we need to?"

"We need to h- It's our best source of further information and materials!"

Steve killed several more pigs for food. He began to get out his furnace but Avery stopped him. "There will be furnaces at the village."

They then noticed a large tower up ahead.

"What's that?" Steve asked.

Avery said, "..."

"..."

"That's a pillager outpost. Those guys are illagers, who are not good.

Avoid them at all costs. We want to keep the village safe." Avery said.

They kept low and started creeping past the outpost.

\------

"Hurr. Hurr." (They're going somewhere.) 

"Hurr?" (Is it the village? We always forget where it is.) 

"Hurr." (Yes.) 

"Hurr!" (Let's follow them!)

\------

  
  


Avery spied movement up ahead and ducked behind a tree. Steve didn't know what was going on. The movement turned out to be a pillager patrol. A pillager spotted Steve and they started attacking him. Avery jumped in front and started attacking with her sword, killing almost all the pillagers in the patrol, except for the captain. 

The captain continued attacking Steve. Steve then realized they were using crossbows, which could be pre-loaded and fired rapidly. Steve ducked behind the tree, which was promptly cut down by an axe. The axe belonged to a vindicator, who was trying to kill Steve. Steve managed to deal several blows with his own axe to the vindicator, and Avery picked up a crossbow and some bolts from a dead pillager and started firing at the captain and the other vindicator, who was nearby. The vindicator was taken out pretty easily, as he wasn't used to long-range combat. The captain died shortly after, dropping a banner, which Steve picked up.

They left the forest, into an open plain, which was surrounded by water on one side and more forest on the other. Sparse trees and flowers dotted the field. . 

Steve said, "I keep forgetting what the point of this mission is." 

Avery said, "We need resources. They're in danger."

Steve asked, "And about that Ender Dragon... I know this seems ridiculous, but can we fight it?"

Avery said, "We could... but not yet. I know there are weapons strong enough to defeat it... or ways to upgrade weapons to make them strong enough... but we have to prepare."

Steve said, "Well, there's a problem, and if we can solve it, we should!"

Avery replied, "I dunno..."

After continued walking, they noticed the forest to their right getting denser, with larger trees, as they neared the ocean. Finally, at the coast, they found the village, with the long-nosed villagers exchanging goods, and harvesting crops. Two iron golems slowly walked around the village, ready to defend it from passing threats. One of them was cracked, a sign of a previous battle. 

Steve and Avery and the villagers exchanged goods for emeralds, and back again, notably obtaining a bow and some arrows that Steve kept. Steve followed Avery to the center of the village, where there was a large tree. Several villagers gathered around it and talked to each other. "Hurr. Hurr." Steve asked what they were saying, since Avery usually had all the information. 

"I... don't know this language," said Avery. Avery said, "Humans used to talk to villagers. We would have interpreters." She called out "Hello? Hello?" until a librarian answered in their language. "Yes?" Avery walked over to a rustic wooden building near the edge of the village.

Avery called out "Over here, this guy, Steve!" and he walked over. "Do you know about these guys?" Steve said, drawing a picture of the pillagers and an outpost.

"Yes. They have been a threat before" the librarian answered.

"Did you win in any previous battles?" Steve said.

"...No."

"By the way, we encountered a lot of zombies."

"They have been a problem as well," the librarian said.

Steve walked back and started to tell Avery the information, but she shushed him. "I don't want to know."

Then, horns sounded and an army of illagers came from the woods. The villagers hid in their houses. The iron golems made quick work of some of the illagers, and Avery stayed behind, scared and embarrassed, leaving Steve to do the rest.

Steve managed to dodge arrows from the pillagers, and killed three of them before being hit by a vindicator's axe. Steve killed the vindicator with a swipe from the sword, also hitting a nearby pillager with the swing. 

Avery hid in a house with one of the villagers. A pillager captain riding a strange beast that resembled a testificate went to the front. The beast landed several huge blows on Steve, who quickly ate a porkchop to recover. He recognized the beast as a "ravager". Steve dealt swing after swing back, and killed the beast, causing the captain to dismount. Steve fought and killed the captain. Steve noticed the next wave, and saw that illagers were coming around the corner. The librarian told Avery at the center of the village to ring the bell, and she obeyed, which caused all the pillagers and vindicators to become visible through walls. Steve was surprised about this a little, and took an arrow to the side, but managed to get back on his feet, picking up a crossbow dropped by a dead pillager. Steve fumbled around with it for a while figuring out how to operate it, and then held it up to block an attack, and then put an arrow in it. He then shot it at a vindicator who died. He then picked up four more, loading them with arrows and storing them for later use. He attacked several pillagers with his axe, then used his sword to start attacking the next ravager, which too had a pillager captain riding it. He did get attacked, but not as much as previously as he could see what was coming. Eventually he killed the captain, and then the ravager. The librarian supplied him with bread. 

The third wave was just as hard to deal with as the second.

\-----------

"Hurr. Hurr! (They've never had this much defense before!)" 

"Hurrr. Hur. Hur. (Fight them anyway, they'll run out of resources soon,)"

"Hurr? Hurr. (Let's make a false army to the west, maybe?)" 

"Hurr. (No, there are humans. Let's take them down first.)" 

\-----------

Steve noticed the illagers specifically targeting him, which was somewhat overwhelming. He started having to throw axes from dead vindicators to kill some of them. Another captain came, riding a ravager as with the previous one. Avery stored five loaded crossbows in her inventory and realized she couldn't keep staying back. She ran forward, and with a final arrow from one crossbow the last pillager captain was killed. Steve built a cage around the ravager. The rest of the illagers in the area retreated into the forest, and the lone ravager was easily dealt with.

The villagers praised Steve and Avery, giving them gifts and materials left behind from past attacks on the village. The librarian showed Steve and Avery to a cartographer, who gave them a map showing the way to a woodland mansion. 

Steve and Avery returned to their base, after marking the village on their map. They crafted some diamond armor before beginning the trek to the village, so they could get to wherever the illagers came from. Avery used the string dropped by the spiders in the mineshaft to craft a bow, and picked up the arrows left behind by the skeletons.

On this mission it became nighttime and Avery spotted a pair of glowing purple eyes.

"That's an enderman, whatever you do, don't look him in the eye! I don't want to make a fool of myself..."

Steve said, "Uh, what?"

Avery said, "...Nevermind! Nevermind."

Steve, after looking the Enderman in the eye, said, "Oh, and why shouldn't I have?"

The enderman screeched and ran towards Steve and Avery.

Avery said, "Quick, into this tunnel, they can't crawl!" Steve followed Avery into the tunnel. Avery was a bit too hasty and tripped on an apple that had fallen out of her bag, of all things. The enderman raised up his arms for an attack before she got back up again and ran into the cave.

Steve and Avery landed one blow each on the enderman before it grabbed the block they were standing under and attacked Steve. Like all the other times he was attacked, he felt very weak but there was no visible injury. Steve backed away and swung his sword at the Enderman, who then died. They then blocked up the wall to the cave.

Avery said, "...How about we go mining to pass the time before it becomes day?"

Steve... Steve said, "...I love mining!"


	3. Chapter 3 - they dreamed they were miners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> -in which-   
> there's a cave.... and uh....

_ Steve Williams has been promoted to _

_ CHIEF MINER AND RESOURCE GATHERER _

_ AJ _

  
  


Steve immediately started digging a mineshaft into the cave wall, encountering redstone. "Wait, won't this come in handy later on?"

Avery yelled, "Wait for me!"

It was almost like second nature for Steve. Yet Avery didn't question it.

Steve broke through a cavern wall, and encountered a huge, somewhat flooded cavern. There were three entrances branching off of it, one to the left overgrown with vines, one wet exit to the right, with stalactites and stalagmites and another directly forward that simply led into the darkness. A chill went down Steve's spine simply looking at it.

Steve said, "I'm hungry... I need some food. It looks like that overgrown entrance could have some food... We should avoid that dark one, it looks scary."

Avery said, "I... I've never seen this before. For really the first time since I've met you, this is the first time I'm really on the same page as you. I have no idea what any of this is! Ugh! I'm supposed to know stuff!"

Avery continued, "...But, that means we need to make conclusions based on evidence, like you did! That dark area seems creepy. Let's not go there."

Steve said, "Hold up. Wait a minute. What if there's something important there?"

Avery said, "I said let's AVOID THAT PART OF THE CAVE AT ALL COSTS!"

_ September 2  _

_ The End experiments are going well. _

_ Hopefully this doesn't cause problems down the line. I am noticing a dark fog closing in on the deeper parts of the stronghold though. _

Steve said, "....ok."

Avery used wood to craft a boat. "Steve, let's get in."

Using the boat, Avery and Steve crossed the waters. Several waterfalls dotted the cavern, all coming from a high ceiling, or from a large pillar in the center of the cave. The water got deeper and dirtier the closer they got to the overgrown tunnel. They climbed out when they got to the other side, and Steve noticed glowing berries hanging from vines. He picked a few and followed Alex through the rest of the subterranean jungle. There were small shrubs and saplings in the ground. 

Avery asked, "Do you really think you should be touching those?"

Steve asked in response, "...Do you?"

Avery answered, "I don't know."

Steve said, "Well there's your answer."

_ i've checked the tunnels between the hideout and the village _

_ nothing of interest. just the same old boring grey caves _

Avery said, "It's like this whole area just... appeared!"

Steve said, "It's like this whole world just appeared! What am I even supposed to be doing!? I'm mining and I don't know why!" 

Avery's voice echoes from the high ceiling, "... No way out."

Steve said, "...maybe go back the way we came?"

Avery said, "We don't know which way we came from!"

"...Right," Steve said.

"Let's try the other one then. Not the dark one. The one that's all spiky."

Avery said, "...OK! Let's look at that one."

Steve noticed that the one with the stalactites and stalagmites opened into another large cavern with larger stalactites, dripping water, and stalagmites. The cavern expanded both above and below their elevation.

Steve jumped down and landed on a stalagmite, "Ow!" he said as he got hurt by it.

Avery said, "They look spiky, so obviously don't fall on them!"

Steve said, "You were smart enough to make that conclusion!

Avery climbed down onto a flat section of the cave.

"Look at this," Avery said. "The drops of water are forming puddles!"

Steve walked over, and too, noticed a small puddle of water below the stalactite. He bucketed up the water and then they continued on. Like the lush cave, this one too reached a dead end.

Avery said, "Dangit dangit dangit dangit dangit DANGIT!"

"Welp... looks like the easiest way out is..."

"Through there..." She said, pointing to the dark cavern.

Avery and Steve went into the dark cavern. Their torches barely lit up anything. A feeling of dread hung over them as they quietly ventured further into the cave. 

Then, Steve tripped over a rock and fell, causing some blue plants to light up. "Hmm... the sound."

Steve made several more loud sounds, which caused the plants to light up again and again. "...I get it! It's so dark that things don't actually see, they hear!"

Avery said, "...Well... it's.... ugh. I really don't want to be here..."

They noticed a large alien-looking creature walking around in the darkness. Steve said aloud, "What is that?" It heard them and started running towards them. Steve pulled Avery into a side passage with signs of civilization in it, including a few books and papers strewn about, and a chest which was empty. They blocked off the entrance.

Avery opened up a torn page of a book. It was written in messy handwriting.

Day 18

The Warden

MOST DANGEROUS CREATURE!

If it hears you, it will attack!

Don't attempt to fight it!

Hide as quickly as possible and wait!

Boerstra...

Rosenfeld...

No.

-Mark

It had a drawing of the creature.

Avery silently crept out of the side room to see where it was.

She could barely make out the area, and she couldn't see it.

"Coast is clear", she whispered, and they continued tiptoeing down the tunnel. The tunnel got brighter, and they felt less scared as they walked through it. Things were starting to become visible with Steve's torches again, until the tunnel eventually sloped upwards and they encountered a zombie spawner.

Steve said, "...I recognize this!". He noticed there were torches around the spawner.

"My base is over here! There was a tunnel I didn't go down. Guess that's where it led."

Then, they waited until sunrise to begin the journey back to the village.

They reached there by sunset, and the librarian let them use his spare room.

After waking up and checking their gear, they began a journey east into the forest, in order to eliminate the pillager problem at its roots.

Avery led the way to the large wooden mansion, which had several floors and was mostly square in shape. There were cobblestone accents on the windows and roof.

"This is where the illagers live." Avery said.

Steve followed close behind. "But we killed a lot of them, right? So the rest should be pretty easy."

Avery said, "I dunno."

In the entrance hall to the mansion, there were two doors. Avery opened the one on the right.

"What about the left one?" Steve asked.

"...We don't go there." Avery replied.

"Why not?" Steve asked.

"There could be things there I don't want you seeing."

"Aw... "

Steve followed Avery into the right hall.

There were mostly faded murals.

The first one depicted the villagers and illagers both living in the mansions.

The second one depicted villagers leaving the mansion, as illagers watched from behind.

The third depicted villagers and humans living in the villages.

Steve asked, "What are these?"

Avery said, "The Testificate Wars... that's why the illagers are seen as the enemy."

Steve said, "Oh...Should we even be fighting?"

Avery said, "...Yes! Yes we should!"

Steve and Avery then explored into some side passages, encountering some illagers along the way, but they were no big problem, especially compared to the raid that had happened before.

Steve said, "...What's down the big door at the end of the hall?"

Avery said, "...Let's find out."

Steve said, "OK! I hope there isn't some big fight with some really powerful illager in there!"

There was a big fight with a really powerful illager in there.

The Evoker was sitting there, and started stepping down.

Small, blue minions were summoned who began attacking Steve and Avery. They were easy kills but they were simply annoying. 

"...Quite fitting that they're called Vexes, huh?" Avery said.

Then, a pair of jaws with fangs appeared up from the ground and bit Avery, who fell to the floor.

As she was getting back up, another pair bit Steve. He stumbled back up and continued trying to fight the Vexes, and avoiding the fang attacks. Avery ran back to explore for a while and came back with some apples, which she and Steve both shared. Avery said, "Come on, Steve! You need to do this!"

Steve then hid behind a pillar in the corner of the room, but the summoned Vexes just went straight through, surprising Steve and causing him to jump back. He killed all of them with a swing of his sword, which was promptly grabbed by a set of teeth. The teeth belonged to another fang attack. At this point, Steve simply ran, leaving Avery only to fight the Evoker.

Avery managed to land several blows on the Evoker himself, who let out a "Hruh!". He ran away as he was not good in close-range combat. Avery tried to catch up before getting pushed back by another fang attack, and then running around it and dealing the final blow to the Evoker.

While this was happening, Steve was back in the entrance hall. He snuck open the door on the left. The murals were mostly faded. There was an underground cave on one of them, but that was all he could make out. At the end of the hall was a ring of obsidian. In a chest by the obsidian ring was a flint and steel.

Once Avery caught up to Steve, she started acting all scared, and then relieved, and then excited as she realized that the murals had faded and about what was at the end of the hall.

Avery said, "...If you truly want to face the Ender Dragon...then we need to go deeper."

Then, they stepped through the portal.

On the other side was a strange forest of blue mushrooms, with a cliff overlooking a massive lava ocean, on the other side of which was a red mushroom biome. The two regions were connected by a bridge made out of a reddish-brown stone.

Steve spotted an enderman teleport in and out. "Did you see that?" Steve asked. "What was that?"   
Avery said, "That's one of those endermen we fought before getting lost in the cave!"


	4. Chapter Four - and the universe said you are the night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> -in which-  
> Avery finds change

Steve said, "It looks like there's activity over there," pointing at the red mushroom biome.

Avery followed Steve over the narrow bridge, which began to collapse behind them. Avery noticed strange pig-like humanoid creatures and identified them as piglins. "Behind this wall! Quickly!" She said.

"They're piglins, they're hostile."

Steve said, "O....kay?"

Steve then noticed yellow rocks embedded in the wall. "That's gold."

Avery was confused.

"I'm telling you, that's gold."

Avery looked a little closer. "Yeah, I guess it's gold alright. Didn't know gold existed here, it's been a long time."

Avery said, "It's really weird. Things are different now. Like something just up and changed the entire world. That blue forest wasn't there the last time I checked. Much like the cave. Hm."

Steve said, "... They were wearing gold armor, maybe if we wear some gold armor we can trick them into thinking we're piglins?"

Avery said, "...How did you know that? That's what I was about to say?"   
Steve said, "... Lucky guess?"   
  


_ We managed to get the reports back from the villagers. _

_ hm. _

_ just endless red caverns and lava. _

_ but there is one thing of note - "piglins." they're hostile unless you put on a disguise. _

_ -W _

Steve mined into the wall, got the gold, and crafted two pairs of gold boots.

"This should be enough."

Steve put his pair on, and Avery put hers.

Then, they stepped out from the cave and a piglin was standing there. She made a hand motion and started walking to the other side of the forest. Avery and Steve followed them and eventually encountered a large black structure, where the piglins seemed to live. Avery gave one of them a gold ingot, and got a piece of quartz back. "...Like trading with villagers. Huh."

Avery continued like this, getting several useful resources, including a strange hoe that was made of some kind of gold alloy.

Avery said, "I'm... unfamiliar with this material."

Steve just said, "What to call it... I dunno, Netherite? Since this is the Nether or something? I dunno."

The piglin who led them into the bastion pointed at a nether fortress.

As Steve and Avery left the bastion to go check it out, a large creature attacked them. They nearly fell off the edge into the lava but managed to climb back up in time. An arrow from a crossbow, along with several strikes from Avery's sword, killed the creature. Then, a large group of piglins began attacking several other of these creatures, which were identified as "hoglins". Steve reached out to the dropped meat to eat it, but then Avery stopped him and offered it to the piglins.

They accepted, and gave Steve and Avery more tools made of the alloy.

They equipped the tools and armor, making sure to keep the golden boots on.

At this point, Steve and Avery fled, and made it to the nether fortress. 

At this point, this was more familiar territory for Avery as she made it through the fiery inhabitants of this fortress, named blazes. Avery and Steve reached an intersection. They found some fire created by the blazes. They formed into a soul sand block in the middle of the fortress.

"Hang on, I know what this is! Don't the spawners work like that?" Steve said.

"Maybe they were created by blazes?"

Avery said, "Probably not. I don't think blazes can go into the Overworld, it's too cold for them there, even with open portals."

Steve said, "Ok. Wait, what are they doing?"

As another soul sand block formed on top.

Avery said, "...I know what's going on. They're trying to summon... the Wither..."

A black skull appeared on top of the soul sand. Avery killed some blazes.

Steve tried to attack some, as the last two soul sand blocks, with similar skulls on top, began to form.

Avery looked at the piglin bastion, then at the portal, which was well within range, and then at the Wither, which was nearly finished forming.

"We need to stop this," said Avery.

Then, the Wither formed, knocking back both Steve and Avery, before shooting black skulls at both of them. Avery dodges the projectiles. Steve also dodges, or at least tries his best before getting hit by one every few times.

Each time a skull landed, it caused a small explosion. Steve felt weak, as if he was kind of fading out of existence. He managed to attack the Wither a couple times and damage it, as evidenced by the attacks getting slower. The strange effect on Steve wore off, while Avery was still dodging the skulls, and attacking the Wither.

Steve instead targeted the blazes, and killed quite a few of them before being hit by yet another of the Wither's attacks.

The remaining blazes' fire hurt Avery, as she was too focused on the Wither's skull projectiles.   
  
The Wither eventually hit Steve again, and he could feel himself getting weaker. A kind of fear took over as well, causing Steve to hesitate before attacking.

Avery gave Steve the bucket of milk. "Drink this, it stops whatever's going on!"

Steve drank the milk, and stopped feeling weak, and began attacking the Wither again.

"Hmm, my arrows aren't hitting it!" Avery said, confused.

Steve replied, "Just attack it with the sword! We got these cool new weapons, remember?"

Steve killed the remaining blazes, and after a while, the Wither was taken down too.

"Never again." Avery said.

"...Never again." Steve agreed.

"...What about the Overworld? We need to return there."

Avery and Steve staircased back up to the portal with the dropped blocks from the damage to the fortress, and made sure not to look at the endermen this time.

They stepped through, and the sky was purple.


	5. Chapter Five - and they shiver under a black sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which  
> Steve and Avery find their home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally going to call this chapter "The Place to Call Home" and chapter 1 "A Place To Call Home" but I decided quotes from the End Poem would be more fitting.

Avery said, "It's as I- she feared. "

"Look. There are Endermen."

_ This is bad. Really bad. And it's all my fault. The Ender Dragon could destroy the world at any moment. Endermen... purple...  _

Steve said, "Oh my god. What." As he noticed the terrain was being destroyed. Steve and Avery kept their eyes to the ground like in the warped forest, until Avery started panicking again and looked straight at an Enderman. Only that one started attacking her. Steve killed it somewhat easier using the netherite sword. "These tools are stronger! They're stronger than our diamond stuff!"

Avery said, "Wait.. they are? Interesting."

While the endermen were a little overwhelming, Steve managed to get through and picked up the dropped ender pearls. He gave them to Avery.

"..."

"..."

They both said.

"I... don't want to do this..." Avery said.

"It's ok. We're gonna get through it." Steve said.

"You don't know." Avery said.

"I guess that's right, I don't. But that's fine. You can tell me."

"Does it look like we have time?"

Avery shook her head and crushed up the blaze rods into powder and sprinkled it over the ender pearls. An iris and pupil appeared on each pearl, and they all looked in the same direction.

"...The stronghold is that way. Follow where the Ender Eyes look." 

Avery scooped up the eyes and Steve and Avery followed where they were looking all the way to a large cave entrance. They then entered the cave

But things were different.

The Endermen were attacking them, even without being looked at; the Ender Eyes probably had to do with it.

Steve had kept one ender pearl for an emergency.

Avery and Steve took hit after hit. The armor did a good job of protecting them, but they were overwhelmed. "This is why I didn't... want to do this!" Avery said while trying her best to fight off the endermen.

Steve said, "...Don't give up! ... We can do this."

Avery said, "...I don't..."

Steve said, "I'm sure of it." He then got attacked by two endermen at once, but one quick blow from the sword each took care of them. Then, as they went further down the cave, they found themselves surrounded by even more endermen. They could barely hold on long enough to survive, but as they continued fighting, and conditions got worse, they eventually backed themselves into a corner.

"...We're cornered." Avery said.

Steve held up the ender pearl he kept. "...Wait, what does this do?" While building a small shelter of stone around himself and Avery. 

"Wait... that's what gives the Endermen the ability to teleport. If you throw it, we can get out of here."

Just then, an enderman surprised Steve by taking out a block from the shelter and attacking him. Steve, while continuing to be attacked, mined out another block from the shelter and prepared the throw. He was knocked forward while throwing it but managed to grab onto Avery's hand so that they both would be teleported to the stronghold.

Avery boarded up the stronghold with stronger brick blocks and then simply said,   
"Welcome home."

Steve, confused, wondered what was going on. 

"Wait... isn't our home the area in the cave?"

Avery replied, "... Yes, uh, that's what we've been using as our home, but... I lied to you."

Steve said, "What!??"

Avery replied, "I'm the one who started this all."

Steve said, "...What do you mean?"

Avery said, "... Let me show you."

Avery showed Steve a torn book in the library.

_ September 17 _

_ It happened again. _

_ Everything is going wrong. _

_ I'm honestly just embarrassed. _

_ September 18 _

_... _

_ I need to hide. _

_ I need to hide what I've done. _

_ I can't let myself be revealed. _

_ Steve... Rana... BB... Jesse... all gone. _

_ I'm going to the forest now. _

_ This is Alexandra Jefferson, signing off for the last time. _

Avery said, "...That's right. I'm Alexandra."

"That's why I was so reluctant to do stuff. I didn't want to get found out."

_ Avery said, "I said let's AVOID THAT PART OF THE CAVE AT ALL COSTS!" _

_ Avery said, "I don't want you finding out about this. This is for your own good, and mine." _

**_And mine._ **

Avery, now known to be Alex, said, "And you're Steve Williams. I thought you had died. "

Steve said, "It wasn't zombies. Rana! Where's Rana? 

Alex said, "...That's something we can sort out later."

_ "...Hello, kiddo! I'm Steve." _

_ "I'm Rana. Nice to meet you!" _

Alex said, "... Do you forgive me? It's OK if you don't."

Steve said, "How? I know you! And you thought you should've hidden it?"

Alex stammered, "I can explain! I-I was just too scared to admit my mistakes!"

Steve yelled, "If you had told me before, I WOULD'VE been OK with it! But now, that you've been LYING to me... I almost feel inclined to not help you anymore!"

Alex replied, "It's just... Ugh, this is embarrassing. But we still have this common goal! We still have to help each other with the dragon if we want to succeed! So... it's OK, even if we can never be friends again after that! Oh! There's something I want to show you."

Alex walked to the center of the library. Steve reluctantly followed.

"It's an enchantment table.

Early on in our research, we discovered something called Experience, which is a kind of magic power that you can put into tools, weapons, and armor to make them stronger. This is the table you use to do so."

Steve set down his sword somewhat hard. It levitated above the book that was on the table, and then began glowing purple, signifying that it was enchanted. He picked it back up.

Alex did so too with hers, and then they took turns enchanting their tools and armor. When Alex enchanted her sword, the blade caught on purple fire, signifying that it would set fire to anything she attacked with it. Steve's pickaxe gained glowing tips, signifying that it would drop more materials than what he mined.

After that was over with, they noticed thumping coming from the blocked off entrance. Some of the blocks were missing, and an enderman had come through, holding one of the brick blocks. Alex killed it by ducking under a two-block area like she did before, and then blocked up the passageway again, this time making it two blocks deep.

Steve picked up the ender eyes and said, "These are what were used to power the portal with, right?" 

Alex replied, "Yes. But wait! Check your boots. Do they softly hit the ground when you drop them?"

Steve took off his boots and dropped them. They hit the ground with a thud. Alex said, "...No. Ok, I have a solution. We can't enchant them further, so here's a technique. You know that water bucket you have?"

Steve remembered when he bucketed up the water in the dripstone cave and said, "Yeah."

Alex said, "You can place that right as you fall, and it will prevent you from getting hurt."

Steve said, "...OK!"

Then...

_ sssssssssss _

Boom! A creeper exploded the entrance, and the endermen started flooding in.

Alex said, "...Let's go in!"

Steve said, "Why now?"

Alex said, "The Endermen shouldn't be hostile there! Now go!"

Steve tossed each eye to Alex at a time, as she placed each one into a slot in the portal frame, which then filled with a portal to what looked like outer space. Steve ran into the portal along with Alex and they landed in a small cubic room with an obsidian floor. The stone was like the opposite of cobblestone, as what was stone here would have been empty spaces in cobblestone, and vice versa. Then, Alex heard a loud roar.


	6. Chapter Six - other things in other places

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> -in which-  
> something happens

Alex and Steve reviewed their equipment. 

Steve had his tools and armor, as well as the water bucket, ten pieces of steak, two loaves of bread from the villagers, and the golden apple.

Alex had four loaded crossbows, two beds, a bunch of blocks of cobblestone, an extra netherite hoe, the journal, and the nether star from their unfortunate encounter with the Wither.

Steve said, "Now seems like a good time to eat the golden apple."

Alex said, "...Yes."

Steve did so, and immediately felt powered up. 

Then, he dug out of the small room and heard the roar again. It came from the center of the island, where the Ender Dragon was perching on a bedrock pillar.

Alex ran up to it with the sword and began attacking. A beam shot from a nearby end crystal, which was on an obsidian pillar, healing the dragon as it lifted off. Alex shot the crystal with one of the crossbows, and then proceeded to shoot down three more, all on pillars with her remaining three crossbows. A field of glowing purple gas hit the ground where Steve was, causing damage. Then, the dragon perched again, and Alex began attacking again, but got thrown into the air by the dragon's attacks and hit the ground with a crunch, being somewhat injured by the fall. Steve ran over and got thrown into the air like Alex did as the dragon lifted off. Steve landed on one of the pillars where the crystal had not yet been destroyed. He hit the crystal with his sword and it exploded, hurting Steve somewhat but not as much as it would have, because of the golden apple's effect. 

Steve jumped down, using the water bucket to break his fall, killing an enderman. He gave the dropped pearl to Alex who threw it to teleport on top of another pillar, destroying its crystal in the process, as Steve continued dealing damage to the dragon, as well as using his own bow to shoot down another crystal. Steve dodged another breath attack, then the dragon dove at Alex, almost knocking her off the pillar. Alex began building a bridge to the next pillar, where the crystal was caged in iron bars. The dragon perched again, allowing Steve to attack its head using his sword. Alex threw the beds down, and Steve caught one of them, and an enderman picked up the other. Steve used the bedrock pillar as a shield, and placed a bed behind it.

Steve yelled, "Why did you throw these to me?"

Alex said, "Touch the bed after you've placed it!"

Steve reached a hand around the pillar and pressed it firmly on the bed as the dragon perched, causing the bed to promptly detonate, dealing damage to the dragon. Steve was damaged, but the pillar protected him mostly. The dragon lifted off, throwing Steve into the air. He placed the water again to avoid taking fall damage, and landed near the edge of the island. He ran back towards the center, shooting at the dragon with the bow.

At this point, the dragon was targeting Alex, diving and breaking part of the dirt bridge behind Alex into nothing.

Eventually, Alex made it to the next pillar, breaking the end crystal, which caused a similar explosion to previously. However, she took less damage due to the iron bars serving as protection. Steve attacked and killed the other enderman with the bed as the dragon dove at Alex again, and this time, she didn't dodge in time.

Instead, Alex fell down to the ground, being somewhat injured by the fall again. Steve threw her a steak, which she stuffed in her mouth, while building back up to the pillar. Steve ran over to where Alex was, and attacked the dragon with his bow from afar.

The dragon flew back to the center of the island, and Steve realized the pattern and ran back to the bedrock structure, using the other bed to deal even more damage to the dragon. Alex was still building up when Steve got hit by another breath attack. He could faintly see his room in the mountain house in gold for a second before eating some bread.

"...The apple saved me. The apple saved me! Heh, guess it was a good idea to eat that apple."

Alex made it to the pillar and destroyed it. Alex then began bridging over to the next pillar, as it would be the last one before the dragon could no longer heal. She took damage from the dragon's breath attack while bridging.

All this time, Steve was on the ground, dealing damage to the dragon, with the bow while it was in the air, and with his sword when the dragon was perching. The dragon perched again. The dragon threw Steve in the air again, and he didn't place the water in time, meaning he was severely injured by the fall. At this point, Alex had made it to the other crystal, destroying it, but without the iron bars as protection, she was impacted by the explosion and began to feel weak. She climbed back down and began attacking the dragon as Steve was, picking up some missed arrows and using them with a crossbow to deal three larger hits to the dragon, which was almost dead. Steve hid behind the pillar while hitting the dragon further, and had a good streak of dodging attack after attack by the dragon and healed from the steak until getting hit again by a breath attack. At this point, Alex made a run for the room that they started in, and made it there, and hid in a corner. 

Alex said to herself, "What was I thinking? That we could just kill the Ender Dragon just like that? The very being that caused this whole mess in the first place? I mean, sure, we didn't have netherite tools at first but... still... Now I'm almost dead, Steve's almost dead, and the dragon's a---

the dragon's almost dead! ... We're actually doing it!"

Alex ran back into the fight, as Steve was getting overwhelmed, and just went all out. The dragon took hit after hit, before lifting off again, and diving at Alex, who dodged by a hair. Steve shot the dragon again, and eventually, the dragon perched, and then charged at Steve, who got hit and took enough damage to begin feeling weak as Alex did. Then, the dragon circled around the pillars before shooting a breath attack at Steve, who panicked and then dodged at the last moment. Alex threw a dropped arrow at the dragon, who took yet another hit, and then perched again. Steve dealt the last few blows, and then the dragon began to float up into the sky and crack apart, soon disintegrating. 

Steve said, "We did it..."

Alex said, "We did it!"

Steve said, "We actually did it!"

An ominous object appeared off the side of the island, and the bedrock structure turned into a portal like the one they had used to enter. A large egg materialized.

Steve said, "Wait, is that an egg? Does that mean it was a girl dragon?"   
Alex said, "...What? I don't know, let's call her Jean?"

Alex grabbed the egg.


	7. Epilogue - wake up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> -in which-  
> i'm finally done with writing this story

Dragon egg in hand, Steve and Alex jumped through the portal.  
And Steve and Alex both dreamt of a dream, which too was of a dream about a dream.  
Two voices could be heard.  
The first said... "I see the players you mean." It was a somewhat creepy, high-pitched voice.  
The second said, "Steve and AJ?" It was a deep voice.  
The first said, "Yes. Take care. They have reached a higher level, and can read our thoughts.  
The second said, "Yes. As if they were words on a screen."  
The first said, "I like these players. They played well. They did not give up."  
The second said, "Words make a wonderful interface, very flexible. And less terrifying than the reality behind the screen."   
The first said, "They used to hear voices. Those who did not play called the players witches, and warlocks. And players dreamed they could fly through the air on sticks powered by demons."  
The second said, "What did these players dream?"   
The first said, "These players dreamed of sunlight and trees. Of fire and water.They dreamed they created. And they dreamed they destroyed. They dreamed they hunted, and were hunted. They dreamed of shelter."

The second said, "Hah, the original interface. A million years old, and it still works. But what true structure did this player create, in the reality behind the screen?"  
The first said, "They worked, with millions of others, to sculpt a true world in a fold of the..."  
Then they said what somehow reminded Steve and Alex of paper drawings of hands... smiley faces... religious symbols... weather symbols.  
"... and created a..."  
"... for ..."  
"... in the ..."  
"They cannot read that thought." The second voice said.  
"It must achieve the highest level in the long dream of life, not in the short dream of a game, {NULL}." The first voice said.  
{NULL} said, "Do they know that we love them? That the universe is kind?"  
The first voice said, "Sometimes, through the noise of their thoughts, they hear the universe, yes."  
{NULL} said, "But there are times, 303, that the players are sad, in the long dream. They create worlds that have no summer, and they shiver under a black sun, and they take their sad creation for reality."  
303 said, "To cure them of sorrow would destroy them, we must not interfere."  
{NULL} said, "Sometimes when they are deep in dreams, I want to tell them, they are building true worlds in reality. Sometimes I want to tell them of their importance to the universe. Sometimes, when they have not made a true connection in a while, I want to help them to speak the word they fear."  
303 said, "They read our thoughts."  
{NULL} said, "Sometimes I do not care. Sometimes I wish to tell them, this world you take for truth is merely..."  
"... I wish to tell them that they are..." "...in the..." "They see so little of reality, in their long dream."  
303 said, "And yet they play the game."  
NULL said, "But it would be so easy to tell them..."  
303 said, "To tell them how to live is to prevent them living... The players are growing restless."  
NULL said, "I will tell the players a story... A story that contains the truth safely, in a cage of words... But not the truth."  
"Steve and Alex, players of games."  
"Take a breath, now. Take another. Feel air in your lungs. Let your limbs return. Yes, move your fingers. Have a body again, under gravity, in air. Respawn in the long dream. There you are. Your bodies touching the universe again at every point, as though you were separate things. As though we were separate things."  
...  
"Once upon a time, there were two players."  
303 said, "The players were you, Steve and Alex."  
NULL said, "Sometimes they thought themselves human, on the thin crust of a spinning globe of molten rock. The ball of molten rock circled a ball of blazing gas that was three hundred and thirty thousand times more massive than it. They were so far apart that light took eight minutes to cross the gap. The light was information from a star, and it could burn your skin from a hundred and fifty million kilometres away.

Sometimes the players dreamed they were miners, on the surface of a world that was flat, and infinite. The sun was a square of white. The days were short; there was much to do; and death was a temporary inconvenience."  
303 said, "Sometimes the players dreamed they were lost in a story."  
303 said... "To make it easier to talk about what happened, let's use one player in place of two. But keep in mind this affects both."  
NULL said, "Sometimes the player dreamed it was other things, in other places. Sometimes these dreams were disturbing. Sometimes very beautiful indeed. Sometimes the player woke from one dream into another, then woke from that into a third."  
303 said, "Sometimes the player dreamed it watched words on a screen."  
NULL said, "Let's go back. The atoms of the player were scattered in the grass, in the rivers, in the air, in the ground. A woman gathered the atoms; she drank and ate and inhaled; and the woman assembled the player, in her body.

And the player awoke, from the warm, dark world of its mother's body, into the long dream.

And the player was a new story, never told before, written in letters of DNA. And the player was a new program, never run before, generated by a sourcecode a billion years old. And the player was a new human, never alive before, made from nothing but milk and love."  
303 said, "You are the player. The story. The program. The human. Made from nothing but milk and love."

NULL said, "Let's go further back.  
The seven billion billion billion atoms of the player's body were created, long before this game, in the heart of a star. So the player, too, is information from a star. And the player moves through a story, which is a forest of information planted by a man called Julian, on a flat, infinite world created by a man called Markus, that exists inside a small, private world created by the player, who inhabits a universe created by Id-"

  
303 said, "Shush. Sometimes the player created a small, private world that was soft and warm and simple. Sometimes hard, and cold, and complicated. Sometimes it built a model of the universe in its head; flecks of energy, moving through vast empty spaces. Sometimes it called those flecks 'electrons" and "protons'.."  
NULL said, Sometimes it called them 'planets' and 'stars'.  
Sometimes it believed it was in a universe that was made of energy that was made of offs and ons; zeros and ones; lines of code. Sometimes it believed it was playing a game. Sometimes it believed it was reading words on a screen."  
303 said, "You are the player, reading words..."  
NULL said, "Shush... Sometimes the player read lines of code on a screen. Decoded them into words; decoded words into meaning; decoded meaning into feelings, emotions, theories, ideas, and the player started to breathe faster and deeper and realised it was alive, it was alive, those thousand deaths had not been real, the player was alive."

303 said, "And sometimes the player believed the universe had spoken to it through the sunlight that came through the shuffling leaves of the summer trees."

NULL said, "And sometimes the player believed the universe had spoken to it through the light that fell from the crisp night sky of winter, where a fleck of light in the corner of the player's eye might be a star a million times as massive as the sun, boiling its planets to plasma in order to be visible for a moment to the player, walking home at the far side of the universe, suddenly smelling food, almost at the familiar door, about to dream again."

303 said, "And sometimes the player believed the universe had spoken to it through the zeros and ones, through the electricity of the world, through the scrolling words on a screen at the end of a dream."

NULL said, "And the universe said I love you."

303 said, "And the universe said you have played the game well."

NULL said, "And the universe said everything you need is within you."

303 said, "And the universe said you are stronger than you know."

NULL said, "And the universe said you are the night"

303 said, "And the universe said you are the daylight"

NULL said, "And the universe said the darkness you fight is within you"

303 said, "And the universe said the light you seek is within you"

NULL said, "And the universe said you are not alone"  
303 said, "And the universe said you are not separate from every other thing"

NULL said, "And the universe said you are the universe tasting itself, talking to itself, reading its own code"

303 said, "And the universe said I love you because you are love."

NULL said, "And the game was over and the player woke up from the dream. And the player began a new dream. And the player dreamed again, dreamed better. And the player was the universe. And the player was love."

303 said,   
"You are the player."

And NULL said,

"Wake up."

Steve and Alex woke up in the beds in their house, and went outside. They took the short route to the village, as they didn't want to get caught off-guard by any enemies. They soon arrived at the village, at which Alex revealed who she was, and what she did, and how she and Steve fixed it. The villagers were happy that they managed to do the right thing.  
Then Alex said, "Hey, what about that redstone? We never finished exploring the mansion! I think there was another portal at the side of the-"  
Steve said, "We're not working together anymore, remember?"  
And walked off towards the stronghold.  
. 


End file.
